Sample processing devices including process chambers in which various chemical or biological processes are performed play an increasing role in scientific and/or diagnostic investigations. The process chambers provided in such devices are preferably small in volume to reduce the amount of sample material required to perform the processes.
One persistent issue associated with sample processing devices including process chambers is in the mixing of materials in the process chambers. For example, mixing may be useful to improve utilization of reagents and/or sample utilization. Many sample processing devices are, however, designed to use small volumes of sample material (e.g., 5 microliters) that are not easily accessed after loaded into the sample processing devices designed to process such small sample volumes.